Thursday, August 07, 2008

Like Vicki and Rick, the Texans' comments about the Canadian authorities and passengers who intervened in the recent horrific bus incident as being "too civilized" got my wheels turning. Creak...

It's made me think about the overall tendency to use violence to sell books and movies. And unfortunately, the message that these works spread (Rambo, Terminator, certain thrillers, we can go on and on), is that "heroic" acts depend on some violent confrontation. This information is so false it would be laughable--if we stop to think about it.

See Rick's comments below about handguns held sideways. Next time you see or read one of these thrillers, take a moment to ask yourself whether the authors or directors consulted firearms, military, or political experts. Would people in authority act the way depicted on screen and would you want them to? (Vantage Point, which my family recently rented, comes to mind)

Where did so many get so far off the track of reality? How could anyone imagine that firing guns at a crazy murderer on a crowded bus could solve an already heinous (sadly, too late for Tim McClean)crime?

Why has physical confrontation been made to look more, well, heroic? This despite the fact that it's less apt to work. A few months ago in my home town of Honolulu, a place known for its friendly goodwill, a good Samaritan rushed to help a woman whose purse was being stolen. In the fracas, 58 year-old Ned Nakoa was hit in the head and later died of his injuries. The same month, Steven Wilcox, 19, was stabbed to death outside a bar in Kane'ohe trying to prevent a violent domestic dispute. In January, a 69-year-old man was knocked unconscious when he tried to intervene as a man on a residential street beat his estranged wife to death with the butt of a shotgun. These were brave people, trying to do the right thing. I hope I'd have their courage.

Perhaps it's time movies and thrillers stop crashing and bashing brainlessly and show examples of intervention that pay off. Can't we make intelligence as exciting as a gun or street fight? Some books and movies are pulling this off. Some actually parody the violence.

Another Honolulu story caught my eye just this morning. Theresa Harden, a 35- year-old real estate broker, saw a man force his way into a woman's car, hit her, and drive off with the woman still in the car. Harden followed in her own car and directed the police via cell phone until they arrived and intervened. The woman was rescued, the man arrested, and Harden's success made the local news.

If I'd been in Harden's place, my hands would have been shaking so badly I would have had trouble driving and talking on the phone. But she was the only one in the four incidences I've read about lately that pulled it off. The more confrontational attempts were, tragically, unsuccessful.

Just some thoughts, but I'm getting fed up with the sideways guns and the testosterone-hyped thrillers that influence certain people.

Rick Blechta writes on Tuesdays

Barbara Fradkin writes on alternate Wednesdays

Sybil Johnson writes on Alternate Wednesdays

John Corrigan writes on alternate Thursdays

Donis Casey writes on alternate Thursdays

Charlotte Hinger writes on alternate Fridays

Frankie Bailey writes on Alternate Fridays

Vicki Delany writes on the second weekend of every month

Mario Acevedo writes on the 4th Saturday of each month

Aline Templeton

Aline Templeton lives in Edinburgh in a house with a balcony overlooking the beautiful city skyline. Her series featuring DI Marjory Fleming is set in beautiful Galloway, in South-west Scotland. alinetempleton.co.uk

Marianne Wheelaghan

Marianne is from Edinburgh. She left home at seventeen. After a heap of travelling, which included living in Kiribati, the third most remote country in the world, she ended back in Edinburgh where she still lives very happily. Her crime mysteries feature DS Louisa Townsend, The Scottish Lady Detective, and are mostly set in the Pacific. Read more about Marianne and her books on her blog: www.mariannewheelaghan.co.uk and at @MWheelaghan

Rick Blechta

Rick has two passions in life, mysteries and music, and his thrillers contain liberal doses of both. He has two upcoming releases, Roses for a Diva, his sequel to The Fallen One, for Dundurn Press, and for Orca’s Rapid Reads series, The Boom Room, a second book featuring detectives Pratt & Ellis. You can learn more about what he’s up to at www.rickblechta.com. From the musical side, Rick leads a classic soul band in Toronto. Check out SOULidifiedband.com. And lastly, being a former line cook with an interest in all things culinary, he has a blog dedicated to food: A Man for All Seasonings.

Barbara Fradkin

Barbara Fradkin is a retired psychologist with a fascination for how we turn bad. Her dark short stories haunt the Ladies Killing Circle anthologies, but she is best known for her award-winning series featuring the quixotic, exasperating Ottawa Police Inspector Michael Green, published by Dundurn Press. The ninth book, The Whisper of Legends, was published in April 2013. Visit Barbara at barbarafradkin.com.

Sybil Johnson

Sybil Johnson’s love affair with reading began in kindergarten with “The Three Little Pigs.” Visits to the library introduced her to Encyclopedia Brown, Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle and a host of other characters. Fast forward to college where she continued reading while studying Computer Science. After a rewarding career in the computer industry, Sybil decided to try her hand at writing mysteries. Her short fiction has appeared in Mysterical-E and Spinetingler Magazine, among others. Originally from the Pacific Northwest, she now lives in Southern California where she enjoys tole painting, studying ancient languages and spending time with friends and family. Find her at www.authorsybiljohnson.com.

John R Corrigan

John R. Corrigan is D.A. Keeley, author of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agent Peyton Cote series, which is set along the Maine-Canada border. Bitter Crossing (summer 2014) will be the first of at least three novels in the series. Born in Augusta, Maine, he lives with his wife and three daughters at Northfield Mount Hermon School in western Massachusetts, where he is English department chair, a teacher, a hockey coach, and may very well be the only mystery writer in North America who also serves as a dorm parent to 50 teenage girls. A Mainer through and through, he tries to get to Old Orchard Beach, Maine, as often as possible. You can see what he's up to by visiting www.amazon.com/author/DAKeeley or dakeeleyauthor.blogspot.com or on Twitter (@DAKeeleyAuthor).

Donis Casey

Donis is the author of six Alafair Tucker Mysteries. Her award-winning series, featuring the sleuthing mother of ten children, is set in Oklahoma during the booming 1910s. Donis is a former teacher, academic librarian, and entrepreneur. She lives in Tempe, AZ, with her husband, poet Donald Koozer. The latest Alafair Tucker novel, The Wrong Hill to Die On (Poisoned Pen Press, 2012), is available in paper or electronic format wherever books are sold. Readers can enjoy the first chapter of each book on her web site at www.doniscasey.com.

Frankie Bailey

Frankie Y. Bailey is a criminal justice professor who focuses on crime, history, and American culture. Her current project is a book about dress, appearance, and criminal justice. Her mystery series featuring crime historian Lizzie Stuart is set mainly in the South. Her near-future police procedural series featuring Detective Hannah McCabe is set in Albany, New York. Visit Frankie at frankieybailey.com.

Charlotte Hinger

Charlotte Hinger is a novelist and Western Kansas historian. Convinced that mystery writing and historical investigation go hand in hand, she now applies her MA in history to academic articles and her depraved imagination to the Lottie Albright series for Poisoned Pen Press. charlottehinger.com

Vicki Delany/Eva Gates

Vicki Delany is one of Canada’s most prolific and varied crime writers. She is the author of more than 25 books, including the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop series, the Year Round Christmas cozy series, the Constable Molly Smith books, standalone novels of suspense, the Klondike Gold Rush series, and novellas for adult literacy. As Eva Gates, she is the author of the national bestselling Lighthouse Library cozy series from Penguin. Find Vicki at www.vickidelany.com and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/evagatesauthor/

Mario Acevedo

Mario Acevedo is the author of the Felix Gomez detective-vampire series. His short fiction is included in the anthologies, You Don’t Have A Clue: Latino Mystery Stories for Teens and Hit List: The Best of Latino Mystery, and in Modern Drunkard Magazine. Mario lives with a dog in Denver, CO. His website is marioacevedo.com.